tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post8740789519953616990..comments2016-12-09T08:55:39.858-05:00Comments on Gurney Journey: Art and NatureJames Gurneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-69702766421866233312013-03-22T03:15:20.857-04:002013-03-22T03:15:20.857-04:00I don’t see this as an either/or thing, either(?)....I don’t see this as an either/or thing, either(?). I guess I’m w Steve. The middle path is always a good place to start wandering/wondering from.<br /><br />I see two ways into this koan:<br /><br />1.) Nature, as infinite input, is processed by our consciousness,... we have an aesthetic experience… and struggle to express or reproduce or interpret it. Once in a while some of us, if we work very hard at it, and we are very, very lucky, might come close to sort of getting it right; but not without the help of a few geniuses/mystic/alchemists who “have blazed trails into the wilderness that we can use as a guide for our own personal exploration.” But it’s mostly an internal process and struggle to learn and practice and improve our techniques. And like the chimp* that recognizes when it’s painting is done, we are pleased with ourselves when we recognize in our masterpiece the ‘divine spark of Nature’.<br />or<br />B.) Consciuosnes as infinite input, is stimulated by our limited perseptions of our environment… we have an aesthetic experience… and struggle to express or reproduce or interpret it. Facing our own internal nature can be bewildering also. On its own, our imaginative-reality can be overwhelming and all of our “productions (can) quickly become sterile, mannered and derivative.” (see #1 above about getting it right.).<br /><br />Either way it’s mostly an internal process and struggle to learn and practice and improve our techniques. Thanx for the Journey. -RQ<br /><br />*ref. Blogspot: Why do chimps paint?<br />Robertohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01751501281929627657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-58625631255541180532013-03-21T21:21:26.080-04:002013-03-21T21:21:26.080-04:00I think art is more important than nature due to t...I think art is more important than nature due to the time tested cultural canon of art (disregarding the last 100+ years, which isn&#39;t long in cultural time). If nature is aesthetically complete, why any need for art at all? And if you think nature is aesthetically complete, you couldn&#39;t have much of the spirit of art and creativity within yourself.<br /><br />David,<br />Very interesting line of questions which are, in my opinion, pointing towards phenomenology.etc, etchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16842857128365186742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-57273222339429083482013-03-21T15:19:45.505-04:002013-03-21T15:19:45.505-04:00James, if harmony and balance are human constructs...James, if harmony and balance are human constructs, I guess Hegel&#39;s question would be, &quot;out of what are you constructing them?&quot; How do you know what is harmonious, as opposed to dischordant? Why do certain visual combinations feel good? If we construct beautiful things, how do we know when we have arrived at beauty? How can we tell we are going in the wrong direction? Ever since college, I try to avoid straying too deeply into Hegel whenever I can avoid it but these strike me as worthwhile questions.<br /><br />The mind reels at your thought experiment of a feral child raised in art gallery. Would this gallery be displaying the work of Jeff Koons? Tracey Emin?David Apatoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-70376208570529777012013-03-21T15:18:40.901-04:002013-03-21T15:18:40.901-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.David Apatoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-74584465645455953292013-03-21T10:18:57.660-04:002013-03-21T10:18:57.660-04:00There are a few exceptions to my comment above, bu...There are a few exceptions to my comment above, but generally speaking... ;-)phiqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424182011653329283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-665230516365740772013-03-21T09:50:03.814-04:002013-03-21T09:50:03.814-04:00I&#39;m glad to find others have the Art + Liberal...I&#39;m glad to find others have the Art + Liberal Arts education! It makes me feel less weird to have done so. Few seem to have bothered in my generation. <br /><br />For me, I look to art to feel inspired, to attain an energy that makes me work. I also look to art for technical reasons, so I may improve my methods. But if I want to be influenced, I look to the real world; history, religion, literature, nature, design, architecture, and so on. The most I ever look to be influenced by art is to seek out a kind of design philosophy of a particular artist. There&#39;s always a lot of same, and that&#39;s my way around the problem, and of adding to it. phiqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424182011653329283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-72000448298775373552013-03-21T09:32:46.156-04:002013-03-21T09:32:46.156-04:00Steve, I&#39;m so glad you mentioned Wyeth at Kuer...Steve, I&#39;m so glad you mentioned Wyeth at Kuerner&#39;s. We were talking about A. Wyeth, too, over breakfast before reading your comment. He blazed a trail into interpreting America&#39;s rural landscape, gave us a way to see it that influenced a generation of artists in the &#39;70s and &#39;80s. Look forward to seeing what you come up with.<br /><br />David, I don&#39;t know if I agree with Hegel in theory. Aren&#39;t ideas of balance, harmony, and beauty human constructs? Are those qualities really self evident and mutual to people who wander in nature? For the sake of argument, let&#39;s suppose there were two feral children, one raised in the wilderness by wolves and one raised 24/7 in an art gallery (or if you prefer, playing video games). If either of them felt moved to create artwork, what would they come up with? What would be the strengths and limitations of each?<br /><br />I agree with Don, Steve, and others, that it has to be both Art and Nature, or the interplay between both inspirations. But I posed the question as an &quot;or&quot; question because it does come down to choices of one or the other when one plans a limited trip to Europe (to sketch or to go to the museum?) or when one buys books for reference (art books or nature photo books?)<br /><br />Benjamin, you&#39;re joking, right? Freezing, cloudy Ohio sounds inspiring as an art subject to me. James Gurneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-62911900183061797512013-03-20T23:53:22.067-04:002013-03-20T23:53:22.067-04:00&quot;These speak of grandeur that defies decay - ...&quot;These speak of grandeur that defies decay - &quot;<br /><br />Beautiful poetry.<br /><br />Great post.mphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07926885394879793881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-76363032996254304782013-03-20T18:10:35.360-04:002013-03-20T18:10:35.360-04:00You ask &quot;Art or Nature&quot; - but the title ...You ask &quot;Art or Nature&quot; - but the title of your post reveals the answer: Art AND Nature.Don Ketchekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17292878945237514865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-48327140551281697922013-03-20T17:18:26.402-04:002013-03-20T17:18:26.402-04:00But I live in Ohio, and its almost always freezing...But I live in Ohio, and its almost always freezing and cloudy and I have no great landscapes around me.<br />I want to paint landscapes, what else can I do?Benjamin.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06433112782609982953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-74095998340169616132013-03-20T14:28:24.707-04:002013-03-20T14:28:24.707-04:00Hegel said that the only possible starting place f...Hegel said that the only possible starting place for art is experience, by which he meant walking through the world and developing through osmosis an appreciation for the kinds of colors and forms that nature favors. After all, where would we find the meaning for aesthetic concepts such as &quot;balance&quot; and &quot;harmony&quot; and &quot;beauty&quot; if not from what our senses take in from nature? This isn&#39;t to say that you couldn&#39;t learn from those same colors and forms once they have been filtered through another artist....<br /><br />I agree with Steve that the dichotomy is not either/or. In fact, sometimes nature helps out art-- bleaching the bold colors off those statues on the acropolis, oxidizing Chinese Shang dynasty bronzes to turn them beautiful greens, or contributing moss, lichen and cracks to the statues at angkor wat.David Apatoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11293486149879229016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-11432188860520443822013-03-20T13:07:43.312-04:002013-03-20T13:07:43.312-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13266757685674405297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-88927647203282915972013-03-20T10:23:38.474-04:002013-03-20T10:23:38.474-04:00I&#39;m guessing I&#39;m like most in regard to Ar...I&#39;m guessing I&#39;m like most in regard to Art and Nature; it&#39;s not a matter of either/or. Sometimes the interplay can be very specific. I&#39;m currently working on some paintings for a show sponsored by a local land conservancy. Several of us have been &quot;assigned&quot; to rural properties that are conservancy holdings. We spend time at our properties and use the visits as the basis of our paintings. I&#39;ve been assigned a nearby dairy farm. Being there this month, with patches of snow on the ground, led to also revisiting the book, &quot;Wyeth at Kuerners,&quot; Seeing Andrew Wyeth&#39;s sketches -- which range from ultra minimal to exhaustively developed, and then the tempera paintings that resulted -- was tremendously helpful. I&#39;ll be painting the cows and buildings from &quot;my&quot; property, but Wyeth&#39;s work will nourish the process.Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09596875722436085739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-65691118104019678452013-03-20T08:31:12.812-04:002013-03-20T08:31:12.812-04:00John, your experience is similar to mine. I also w...John, your experience is similar to mine. I also went to college for a liberal arts degree before pursing art. You raise a really important point, that the artist can draw a lot of inspiration not just from nature and other visual art, but also from poetry, history, music, and literature. It&#39;s hard to factor in how that enriches a person&#39;s painting, but I believe it does. James Gurneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01870848001990898499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2999230124118604245.post-18370034696858744982013-03-20T08:10:51.381-04:002013-03-20T08:10:51.381-04:00When I was (MUCH) younger, I had decided to go to ...When I was (MUCH) younger, I had decided to go to college and all I wanted was to go to an art college. One of the key inspirations in my life, our county extension agent, said &quot;no, you really need a liberal arts background&quot;. I&#39;m SO glad that I did now because I feel I have a much stronger background for my storytelling. I feel like art colleges probably give a stronger foundation for MAKING art but you can&#39;t make art about art. Art is about everything else in the world. I would have only been going to an art college to avoid algebra and I would have missed out on all the history and literature and everything else that makes life great.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03094701173187888604noreply@blogger.com